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Tuesday, June 25, 2013

As animal lovers, we're always thrilled to find quilts that showcase some of our favorite creatures, including cats. We came across some great quilts featuring fun felines in recent shows. We hope these brighten your day! (Note to cat lovers: also see our 2010 series on The Best of Cat Quilts, and our Cat Quilts Board at Pinterest.)

Flower Queen Kitty, 47 x 59, exhibited by Mary Fish

Mary notes, "This quilt was my 'thank you' gift for serving as a 2009 River City Quilters Guild Quilt Show co-chair. Thank you to [all who worked on my quilt] including , ShirLee Belisle, Nancy Causey, Nancy Gangler, Nancy MacDonald, Kathy Mitchell, Phyllis McCalla, and Annette Blandin. I will treasure it always. "

Close-up of Flower Queen Kitty

We love the whimsical face and fanciful long whiskers of this giant purple kitty. The striped inner border in extra-bright colors provides this quilt with a glowing, surrealistic, Alice-In-Wonderland look.

Let Sleeping CatsLie by Jane Chiles

At the 2012 Arizona Quilters Guild Show, Jane noted, "I started this at Quilt Camp in 2006 and finished it this past year. I am a new quilter, and this has been my biggest challenge!"

Close-up of Let Sleeping Cats Lie

The center spiral of these blocks is formed by the cats' tails all cozily curled up together. The center of this pattern is based on the traditional "Snails Trail" quilt pattern. The pattern, by Helene Knott, can be seen at Alderwood Quilts.

Holiday Party Kitty, 47 x59, exhibited by Paulette Trafecanty

Paulette exhibited this adorable black, white, and red cat quilt at the 2012 River City Quilters Guild Show in Sacramento, California. She explains, "I was one of four ladies that put on the River City Quilters Guild Quilt Show. I never expected to get a quilt. But lo and behold, Phyllis McCalla and her great group of ladies made one for each of us. I absolutely adore it! It is now hanging on my living room wall."

Close-up of Holiday Party Kitty

So much personality is imbued to this crazy cat by its heart-shaped nose, striped bow-tie collar, and red bell around its neck. The echo quilting or outline quilting around this center panel really gives a wild, zany energy to this delightful work.

Sleeping Cat, 27 x29, by Dorothy Findley

At the 2013 Flying Needles Quilt Guild Quilt Show in Woodland, California, Dorothy writes, "This quilt was made just because I love cats. I designed the whole quilt. The flying geese were made for another project that didn't work out. So, I put them on this quilt. " We are impressed by the contrast shown between the bright, energetic border, and the graceful, serene pose of the dozing kitty. Can you see the little gray mouse at his feet?

2009 Co-Quilt Show Chair Quilt, 47 x 59, exhibited by Diana Muenzler

Diana exhibited this whimsical cat quilt at the 2012 River City Quilters Guild Show in Sacramento, California. She says, "I was absolutely thrilled to receive this quilt. Thank you so much to Phyllis McCalla, ShirLee Belisle, Nancy Causey, Nancy Gangler, Kathy Mitchell, and Nancy MacDonald."

Close-up of 2009 Co-Quilt Show Chair Quilt

This kitty is done in neutral, calm earth tones that would blend well with the décor in any room of the house. But, that's about the only thing 'restful' about him. The way his fur is styled to fly out wildly in all directions leads us to believe he's really a wild partier ready to dance the night away.

Sleeping Yellow Kitty, 15 x 26, by Monica Kaseman

At the 2013 Guild of Quilters of Contra Costa County Quilt Show, Monica explained, "This quilt hangs over our bed, inspiring sweet dreams! The cat was paper pieced. The pattern for the cat is by Maureen Sparrow on the Paper Panache website and is called Sleeping Cat."

We really like the "album quilt" effect of the traditional Amish patterns in matching colors which surround this kitty, who apparently snoozes without a care in the world. ﻿

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration. We have not yet identified the patterns for the Holiday Party and Co-Chair quilts; if anyone knows the source, please let us know.

Friday, June 21, 2013

Here are free quilt patterns and tutorials for sun and moon themes! This post was first written at the solstice, the longest daylight period of the year. We're updating it with more free patterns just prior to the Solar Eclipse in August, 2017! (This post was updated on August 18, 2017).Scroll down the page until you see the quilt you like, then click on the colored letters of the link to the pattern.

Image credits: All images are copyrighted by their owners. Please respect their generosity in sharing
their free patterns, and the restrictions they have placed on the use of these designs. Complete information can be found at the designers' websites provided in the links. Some of these are tutorials while others have downloadable (.pdf) patterns; we have tried to note which is which in the title above each photo. If any links are broken, we'd love to know; email us at Quilt Inspiration {at} gmail {dot} com.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

~ Stay tuned for our Free Pattern Day this Friday, June 21 ! ~
Quilt Inspiration recently hit a major milestone, with over 2 million
page views. We're taking the time to say THANKS to
the many talented artists who inspire us all. We initially planned a 2-part retrospective, but we couldn't resist sharing some of our favorite applique designs and some never-before-seen photos from our archive. So, here is Part 3 of our retrospective.Flower Basket Medallion by Renee Caswell, design by Kim McLean

We first featured Kim McLean's glorious Flower Basket Medallion in a July 2010 post, Basket Quilts Part 2. We were excited to see this design in person, in a beautiful quilt by Renee Caswell, which won 2nd place in the Applique-Large division at the Arizona Quilters Guild 2013 show. Here is the basket detail:

... and the complete quilt:

Renee's quilt was done with machine applique, using "happy Kaffe Fassett fabrics", as you can see below.

The Flower Basket Medallion pattern and fabrics, and other glorious Kim McLean designs, are available at Glorious Color.

Snake Charmer by Pamela Allen 2008 Road to California quilt show

Pamela Allen is an award-winning artist, quilter and teacher based in
Ontario, Canada. The fantastic quilt shown above, "Snake Charmer", was exhibited at the 2008 Road to California quilt show. On her website, Pamelart, she explains: "I hate vacuuming. The machine is loud and heavy and anyway the house needs cleaning again in a weeks time! I want to conjure up a magical Hoover that does my bidding. If only I could turn a mindnumbing task into an exotic past time!"

In the closeup of the Snake Charmer face you can see the detail of the raw edge applique, hand embroidery, and exotic ephemera; her hair is adorned with colorful safety pins, and she is wearing a necklace of clothspins with bright beads. As shown below, aluminum hair rollers decorate the side of the skirt.

Zena Thorpe is an award-winning artist whose achievements include membership in the Master Quilters Guild established by the
National Quilting Association. At the 2008 Road to California show, where this quilt won 1st prize in its category (traditional large applique). In her artist's statement, Zena says: "I have long been fascinated by the ancient illuminated manuscripts which usually began with a large embellished capital letter."

We first featured "Illuminated Manuscript" in a September 2010 post called The ABCs of Quilting: Alphabet Quilts. The patterns are detailed in Zena Thorpe's book, Beautiful Alphabet Applique, a 64-page book which contains the full-color illustrations and elaborate appliques for all 26 letters of the English alphabet. Each letter is a work of art!

Lily Rosenberry by Sue Garman, quilted by Denise Green

Sue Garman is a preeminent U.S. (Texas) designer of applique quilts with traditional motifs. The name of this quilt, "Lily Rosenberry", is no secret: the quilt is full of lilies, roses, and over 1000 berries! This beautiful quilt is based on a traditional block, but it is set with an unusal swag border. We first featured this quilt in a November 2010 post called Inspired by Red and Green. For more information see Sue Garman's blog; the pattern is available at Quakertown Quilts.

Friends of Baltimore by Susan Garman and colleagues

"Friends of Baltimore" by Sue Garman was the first place winner for Group Quilting at the 2011 Houston International Quilt Festival. Sue Garman notes, "Although inspired by many old Baltimore Album quilts, I designed this quilt to suit my own desire for a uniquely elegant quilt." We featured this beauty in a November 2011 post, Houston International Quilt Festival - Part 3. The pattern and BOM kit are available at Quakertown Quilts.

Teacup, 42 x 42", by Maria Elkins

Maria Elkins designs highly original art quilts that range from the abstract to highly realistic portraiture. We featured her work in a January 2011 post, Maria Elkins Art Quilts. "Teacup", shown above, was created in 2002, when her quilt guild challenged its members to create a quilt using only blue or white. Maria says that she machine pieced the curves of the cup and saucer, then used a print fabric of blue and white plates to cut out, fuse, and machine applique them. For more information see her website, Maria Elkins Art Quilts.

Image credits: Photos of Lily Rosenberry and Teacup are by the artists and are used with permission. The other photos are by Quilt Inspiration and, with permission, by G. Weake.